resemble the colours
of the surrounding rocks, stones, and sea-weed. Sometimes they would
appear singly, swimming hurriedly, just giving the leaves a pat with
their tails, as if closing the door behind them. These seemed to be
messengers, for presently others of a larger size would come along more
leisurely, as if to clear the way, and in a short time would appear
quite a shoal of these beautiful fish of all sizes, forming a
procession, as if they had some kind of carnival or festival afoot, and
were making the most of the day.

What a spot for a poet to muse in! How he could roll his azure eyes and
comb out his locks with his lily-white taper fingers, and gaze into
space for a word to rhyme! How he would wrinkle his lofty brow, compress
his cupidon upper lip, and unloose his _neglige_ necktie, to give room
for his bosom to swell with pride at the enchanting poem which would, at
the picture before him, be sure to flow from the tip of his pretty
little golden stylographic pen! At least this is how I fancy a poet must
act, but never having seen one of those wonderful beings at work, I
have, like the said poet, to get my picture from the source of some of
his best work--the imagination.

But a truce to badinage. True poetry is not a thing to laugh at and
disdain, for it is the salt of life, which makes existence endurable,
and gives a savour to our worldly toil.

Pierce, a modern poet, hits off the shores of Jethou capitally, thus:

"Lucent wave!
Flash in sparkling bells
On the coloured stones and tiny shells;
With low music lave
Sheltering rock,
Flood the glassy pool,
Sway the foliage 'neath its crystal cool,
Wake with gentle shock
The anemonae,
That like some lovely flower
Petals opening 'neath the sunlight's power,
Its beauty spreads to thee."

At low tide--or rather, at half tide--may be seen a huge square-headed
fissure or cave quite through a portion of La Fauconnaire. Its sides are
walls of granite, and the roof is also of that stone, from ten to twelve
feet high on the average, but much more in parts. Although daylight is
admitted at each end of this tunnel it is somewhat gloomy in the
centre, which perhaps adds to its charms, as objects are seen less
clearly, thus giving more scope to the imagination, of which daylight is
frequently a great destroyer. Semi-gl